Santa Cruz police to clear out homeless camps in next 4-6 weeks

SANTA CRUZ - Santa Cruz police and parks workers plan to clear out illegal homeless camps around the city in the next four to six weeks because of increased concerns about environmental damage, fire danger, sanitation and public safety.

Residents' complaints to police and at City Council meetings helped drive the pilot program. Police plan to concentrate on the San Lorenzo River levee, West Cliff Drive, Pogonip and wooded areas off Club House Drive, Market Street and Branciforte Drive.

Trash left at campsites has been fouling the environment, said police spokesman Zach Friend.

"Something needed to be done," Friend said.

Firefighters also expressed concerns about increased danger from transients' cooking and warming fires after a relatively dry winter. An illegal campfire in the hollow base of a redwood tree sparked a blaze in Pogonip in April, firefighters said.

Police discussed the project with parks and public works leaders for more than a month.

"In the summer, we have an influx of illegal camps," said Parks Superintendent Mauro Garcia. "For police to focus on this is fantastic."

Garcia said his department's four park rangers have noticed more illegal camps off DeLaveaga Park Drive. Garcia believed some of the homeless there had been pushed out of Pogonip, where volunteers and workers have been building a multiuse trail open to mountain bikers, hikers and equestrians expected to open this fall.

"Along the levee and the (San Lorenzo) river, there's concerns over water quality and stuff washing out to the beaches," Garcia said.

Parks leaders sometimes hire a hauling contractor to help with large amounts of trash, so any costs for the clean-up project would stem from that, Garcia said. Friend said four Santa Cruz police officers in its parks unit will focus on the problem with no additional cost unless they incur overtime.

"I think we heard loud and clear at the council meetings that people want to see more citations written and people paying for violating the ordinances," said Garcia.

When police typically spot camps, they can ask for identification and check if the person has an outstanding warrant.

Some campers also have outstanding warrants for other matters - sometimes related to drugs - and can be arrested. Camping is not allowed in parks from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m., so the person can be cited for illegal lodging.

Many people don't pay the fines or fail to appear in court, Friend said. Eventually, the fines are given to a collections agency, which harms the person's credit.

Those penalties haven't been much of a deterrent, so police now have compiled a list of 124 people who have failed to appear in court at least three times in the past three months in Santa Cruz.

That information is being given to the District Attorney's Office to seek warrants for those repeat offenders. Although police often talk to the homeless at the camps about resources available to them, the new system aims to have a judge order drug treatment or alcohol rehabilitation if they need it, Friend said.

"The ultimate measure of success will be to decrease the number of illegal campsites, reduce the number of (failure to appear notices) and improve environmental conditions," he said.

Santa Cruz police asked residents to report illegal homeless camps by calling 420-5892. Reports can be anonymous. The camps will be added to a list to be addressed in the order they were received.

Friend said police would evaluate the project when it finishes in August.